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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24016582">In-Between 1: Jelly-Spider Jam</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmniGawker/pseuds/OmniGawker'>OmniGawker</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Traveling Hashery [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cooking, Dismemberment, Gen, Spider Venom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:01:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,436</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24016582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmniGawker/pseuds/OmniGawker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a...friend drops off some fresh ingredients in hopes of a treat, The Hasherer must ensure that all goes well or risk going handless until the next visitor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Traveling Hashery [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622839</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In-Between 1: Jelly-Spider Jam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The In-Between was an empty vastness of black and white covered and strewn with wisps and webs of red, blue, and purple that ebbed and flowed between massive glowing globes of ever shifting colors that fragmented into more globes or merged with the others as they floated throughout the emptiness. All while a low drone echoed throughout.</p><p>But in the middle of all of this there was a small blob of wood, glass and steel that too was ever shifting although parts of the blob would pop off with one twist and pop back on with another as the wisps and webs reached out and tugged it to and fro.</p><p>And inside this blob there was a rather cozy looking dining space with its wooden floors and walls that gleam a yellowish orange from both the overhead floating candles and a red brick fireplace. Yet its redwood tables and chairs were empty with naught but the crackles of the flames and the muffled droning of the outside filling the silence.</p><p>Standing in stark contrast to the room was a sleek metal kitchen that gleamed blue from the florescent lights hanging overhead and had many stoves and sinks that gleamed in kind. The air here had a slight warmth to it despite the lack of flames and smelled faintly of melted butter and roasted sugar.</p><p>In this kitchen there were two men, one was a man with a shaved head who wore a bandana around his lower face that had a smile framed by a bushy moustache and a pointed goatee stitched upon it. A smile that was stark contrast to the furrowed eyes that were pits of black with a dot of green in the center.</p><p>The other was a visitor who pushed forward a rattling metal cage with a smirk on his face, “Come on I know you wanted to get your hands on these sweet little things,” the fading scars on his hands spoke of a different story, “Their juices tend to spoil soon after dying so please,” he slammed a fist to silence the cage’s rattling, “Humor me with this one little request would ya Hasherer?”</p><p>The masked Hasherer lifted a finger as if to argue only for it to go limp with a sigh.</p><p>“Eyep, knew you would see things my way,” The Hasherer still looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “This oughta make up for the uh,” his smirk waned a tad, “oil fires,” then it came right back up, “welp, I gotta go much as I’d to stay.”</p><p>He yanked the front door to the In-Between open and turned to the Hasherer when he stepped up to the edge, “Be sure to save me a cup of the green jelly will ya?” he sucked in the air with a smile, “I can’t get enough of that stuff. Ciao.”</p><p>And with that and a click of the tongue, the visitor fell backwards into a reaching wisp in the void.</p><p>The Hasherer looked between the closing doors and the once more rattling cage before he sighed and got the stove fires and tools of the kitchen ready.</p><p>Then he let out a slow long breath as he flexed his left hand and clenched a steel pot lid in the other for he knew that one little slip up would result in pain and the loss of his fingers but should he succeed then the possible loss of his fingers will barely be an inconvenience.</p><p>But best to have back up nearby as the cook took a quick look to the wall behind him.</p><p>In front of him there was a citrus squeezer, a couple of clay jugs with strainer nets dangling inward at the top, a steaming pot of water with a vented cap on the side, and a pair of long tongs. That last one he picked up in his remaining hand.</p><p>And then there was the opened wire cage that rattled as a pair of iridescent red and green spider-like creatures that had many glowing beady eyes and were twice the size of dinner plates scuttled out with their stringy looking legs that looked far too long and thin for their short fat bodies.</p><p>These critters then bared their fangs at the man while they raised their front most legs and hissed threateningly at the man as their raised limbs and fangs either became long and sharp like daggers or began to drip with venom that burned the table beneath them.</p><p>All the masked man did in kind was click the tongs back at them.</p><p>At that the red spider leaped forward while the green spider leaned further back with a gurgling hiss and fling a glob of bile towards the man.</p><p>He intercepted the glob with the pot lid and it splattered all over the lid and parts of the countertop.</p><p>With practiced flicks of the wrists, the edges of the pot lid sharpened and extended downward as it was sent flying over to the green spider. Trapping it and causing the green one proceeded to squeal and scratch at its prison walls.</p><p>The red spider leaped to the side of the pot lid and leapt again into the air towards the masked man yet failed to dodge the tongs as they became even longer and they clamped down on the red spider’s abdomen. It flailed about in the clamp.</p><p>Yet during its flails, the red one managed to nick one of his knuckles with the sharpened tip of one of its legs.</p><p>He chucked it into the squeezer, immediately closed it with a few smacking clasps to knock it down then he held the filled squeezer over the one of the jugs and immediately squeezed out the pulpy red juices from the now flailing squealing spider. Yet while it died, the red spider gave the man’s hands a few more nicks before it went completely stiff.</p><p>After a few flicks to get the last droplets of juices out of the now empty spider, the man soon dropped the squeezer to grab and place the now fully brimming jug into the awaiting steaming pot and quickly shut it with a vented cap despite the heat now feeling scalding to his senses in addition to the increasing tremble of his hands.</p><p>He looked at his hands and took a few deep breathes before he twisted his arms like licorice until his hands became purple and puffy as the hands were left on backwards.</p><p>The man soon staggered over to a nearby wall that had a white plastic box that had a black cross on its side and fumbled with its latches before yanking it open causing many of its contents to spill out on the kitchen floor.</p><p>He soon dropped to his knees and parsed through the many band aids, pills, scissors, needles, and medicines before finding a small vial of a yellowish green liquid and picked it and a nearby needle after a few more fumbles due to his fingers puffiness.</p><p>The man used his tongue to uncap the needle and nearly pricked a finger as he aimed the needle tip into the cap of the medicine. Only to wince slightly when he made his mark but also went through the skin of another of his fingers.</p><p>No matter, he had to be quick as he extracted a full needle of the liquid, pulled it out of the vial, and used his tongue to jam the needle into his now dark veined puffy arm and injected its contents.</p><p>He gingerly untwisted his arms, allowing the injection to course quickly and wiped away the dark veins though the arms did spasm for but a brief moment until it was done.</p><p>He let out a brief sigh of relief as he flexed his fingers and stretched out his arms. Until his right pinky suddenly just fell off with a quick snap and shriveled up into a husk on the kitchen floor.</p><p>Ah close enough.</p><p>With that over, he went over to the pot that was oddly quiet. He grabbed the tong before cautiously lifting the pot lid up and to his dismay, the green spider was rapidly graying due to its twitching severed back legs and squirming stumps profusely sprayed out its runny liquids. The creature was barely twitching and its eyes became a hazy milky white.</p><p>Rapidly, hastily the masked man scooped up the spider and tossed it into the squeezer to get as much fresh juice as he could. Though there were a few moments when the squeezer nearly slipped out of the man’s now shaking hand. Yet the thing didn’t even let out a squeal.</p><p>There were a few spills from the jug when he made to place it within the clay pot until it was half way full and the filled clay pot was shut and closed. The man couldn’t stop to take a breath when he heard a sizzle from the countertop and turned to see the green spider fluids eating away at said table.</p><p>He grabbed a nearby gray fruit and squeezed its contents over the sizzling spot on the countertop and its milky juices ceased the melting.</p><p>After he cleaned up that spill and his tools, it was then that was when the cook noticed the lack of steam coming from the pot and he went to lift the lid up with his mitt adorned hands.</p><p>The pot let out a quirk burst of steamy air into his face before vanishing to reveal the jugs within whose contents now bubbled and popped within.</p><p>Then the cook brought out the jugs from the pot and placed them on the countertop as slowly and gingerly as he could on the very off chance they explode into millions of pieces.</p><p>Slowly, the smiling cook took off the wrappings from the jugs’ tops and leaned back from the steam that came forth yet he took in. The smell strongly consisted of a syrupy sweetness yet was oddly fruity as well, specifically that of cherries and limes.</p><p>Still he knew it was time to see his efforts paid off and so, with practiced nimble fingers, the cook untied his smiling mask dropping it on the countertop and revealed that he lacked a lower jaw and a long wet tongue that unfurled itself from his throat. The cook clicked his tongue against back of his teeth before he stretched it out.</p><p>Picking up a small spoon that had a head no bigger than the nail on a pinky finger, the cook took a scoop of the red paste and licked away with his tongue.</p><p>The cook felt around the red paste’s taste, his face was rather content yet wanting.</p><p>The red paste was sweet at the tip of the tongue yet its taste soon turned bitter as it snaked to the back of his taste buds. To this, man shrugged with a small amount of resignation. It could be better but it would have to do.</p><p>Picking another small spoon, the cook took a scoop of the paste yet paused with concern when its smell gained a minute mustiness to its citrusy limey-ness. What could that mean? Was he too late in steaming the green one’s insides?</p><p>Dismissing that thought though steeling himself the cook lapped up the scoop of green paste. Let its taste be the deciding factor if it was a success.</p><p>However, when the green paste touched his tongue the man’s eyes widen and his pupils dilated to the size of a pinhead before he drew a knife and lopped off the now infected tip of his tongue.</p><p>Tears of pain grew out of the corners of his eyes as the man held tightly to his inking stumped tongue as he looked ruefully at the severed tip that squirmed and bounced about in pain from the green paste’s touch.</p><p>That was until the tip bounced into the green jug, causing the paste within to bubble and pop with noxious fumes and growing squirming tendrils of green jelly began to overgrow the jug’s brim.</p><p>And were those eyes growing from within glaring at him?</p><p>With a sound of surprise, he dodged a tendril that shot out for his heart and immediately rushed to open a window and tossed out the jug of increasingly growing mass of hateful slime that started to melt everything that it touched. The jug included.</p><p>Only for several tendrils to latch on to his right arm and gradually crawl up its length.</p><p>The cook felt the growing sensation of his arm being slowly and painfully dissolved from the blob’s touch before he reached out and held up a huge blade from a nearby rack and cleaved off his arm with a few quick and heavy hacks and sent the jug squealing into the void.</p><p>Staggering over to the countertop and clutching his inking stump, he proceeded to slam his face down to the brim of the remaining jug and lifted it up to chug the entirety of its cherry red contents.</p><p>Although he did take the time to slowly savor the sweet tarty taste of the paste even if it did leave behind a slight bitter aftertaste but he most certainly felt the flesh and bones of his new arm growing into place.</p><p>Such a shame he couldn’t share the remaining jug but at least he still had two hands for the kitchen.</p><p>He flexed his new arm and simply placed the jug and pot in the sink to be washed later.</p><p>Although he did worry slightly for the poor souls of whichever globe that will suck in that ever hateful jug of toxicity. Though there was this one little thought that came up in his mind; there is to be pain to go along with the deliciousness in the search for all the recipes of the omniverse.</p><p>But what a shame that he didn’t save that wanderer a cup of the green jelly.</p><p>Although on second thought, that wanderer might be lucky enough to have that pot of death hand delivered to him by the omniverse itself.</p><p>However, that was when he felt his hashery rumble and his form and his entire hashery began to glow the same colors of the grabbing wisps and webs outside.</p><p>He could feel his hashery begin to morph yet again as it no doubt approached one of the globes outside.</p><p>It was nearly time and so the masked man simply wrapped his smiling mask back on, grabbed a hat, and start up the stove’s flames as he waits for the next visitor to cross those doors.</p>
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